Konnichi What’s Up

This YouTube channel has been around for a few months now, and new videos are added twice a week, meaning there’s already quite a variety to choose from. Made by students in global communications at Doshisha University in Kyoto, the channel covers a range of topics that are interesting for Japanese learners. These include explanations of how to use words in context, especially common slang, such as やばい. The explanations are clear and helpful and come with lots of context sentences, so they really help you to get a feel for the range of meanings of the words presented.

There are also videos about Japanese dialects, everyday conversation, and Japanese study topics. You can even watch the hosts order at McDonald’s, and play the “no katakana” game. This last one is an interesting exercise in just how hard it is to avoid using katakana words in Japanese conversation these days!

The speaking is at a natural pace, all the presenters enunciate clearly, and there are Japanese subtitles with furigana added to all but the most basic kanji. All this makes Konnichi What’s Up an accessible resource for lower intermediate learners and above. The sound quality isn’t always top notch, but this is still a great source of natural, colloquial Japanese, presented in a fun and engaging way. [Tofugu Annotation]

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